Today on the Hill: Congress to Wrap Up Work Before Memorial Day Recess

Jet fumes are in the air as lawmakers hope to finish their legislative business today and leave Washington tomorrow for a weeklong recess in honor of Memorial Day. The House will consider two measures pursuant to a rule today, both related to this week’s theme of protecting children from exploitation. One measure (H.R. 1973) would aim to prevent the sexual abuse of minors and amateur athletes by requiring individuals with knowledge to report abuse promptly, while another bill (H.R. 1761) would aim to produce more uniform criminal punishment for individuals who produce images of child abuse. Both bills were reported on voice vote out of the House Judiciary Committee. With only a pro forma session scheduled for tomorrow, votes on the two bills will likely be the last action for the lower chamber this week.

The Senate is set to finish consideration of the nomination of Amal Thapar to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit after the nomination narrowly passed cloture yesterday on a strict party-line vote. With the 60-vote threshold no longer applying to judicial nominations, the minority party has little power to prevent any nominees from being confirmed. The next nomination in the Senate’s queue is for Courtney Elwood, currently a partner at the Kellogg Hansen law firm, to be General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The Congressional Budget Office released its updated score of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) yesterday, with few changes compared to their initial analysis completed in March. Broadly, the report suggests that the bill (H.R. 1628) as passed by the House would save the federal government $119 billion over 10 years and that 23 million individuals would lose insurance coverage over that period.